Vanecek Reassigned to Hershey

Apr 17, 2016

The South Carolina Stingrays announced today that goaltender Vitek Vanecek has been reassigned to the club's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Vanecek will join Hershey today for the club's regular season finale versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. This is the first promotion to the AHL for Vanecek, a second-round selection (39th overall) of the Washington Capitals in the 2014 NHL Draft.

With the Stingrays, Vanecek posted a record of 18-7-5-1 in 32 appearances during his rookie season. He finished with the second best goals-against average in the ECHL at 2.03, and the fourth best save percentage among rookie goaltenders at .917. Vanecek, 20, finished the season with four shutouts and has not lost in regulation since January 23, a span of 15 appearances in which Vanecek went 11-0-3-0.

The native of Havlickuv Brod, Czech Republic earned league honors four times this season. He was most recently named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team. He also was named the CCM Hockey ECHL Rookie of the Month in November, the CCM Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for March 7-13, and the Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Month for March.

Vanecek participated in the 2016 World Junior Championships for his native Czech Republic earlier this year.

The Stingrays continue the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series with the Kalamazoo Wings on Monday night for Game 3 at 7 p.m. at the Wings Event Center. The Stingrays lead the best-of-seven series, 2-0 after claiming a 5-2 win in Game 2 last night. Monday's game can be viewed at a Watch Party at King Street Grille-Northwoods or via ECHL.tv. The game can be heard online via Mixlr as Zack Fisch has the call from Kalamazoo.

The Stingrays return home for Game 4 on Thursday, April 21. As the Stingrays chase their fourth Kelly Cup, the club is proud to offer a 4 tickets for $40 special for Game 4. Fans may take advantage of this deal by calling 843-744-2248. Additional tickets are just $10. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for a Stingrays Happy Hour from 6-8 p.m. featuring $2 beers! Hot dogs will also be $2 all game long.